Regarding External Load Weight and Speed Capabilities...
OSPREY ESTABLISHES SEVERAL NEW RECORDS
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
Bell-Boeing's MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor transport has set an unofficial load-carrying world record for rotorcraft by carrying a 10,000-pound external load at a speed of 220 knots. The load was attached to the Osprey's aft cargo hook by a Marine helicopter support team, using procedures developed during 15 prior hookups.
During a series of 20 flights in 10 days, the Osprey eventually had reached the required speed of 220 knots while carrying a load of 6,000 pounds. The 10,000-pound load was carried on a later flight.
"It was basically transparent that there was an external load once the V-22 was airborne from the hookup, into forward flight, and during the transition into the airplane mode," said Bill Leonard, a developmental test pilot. "The V-22 was remarkably easy to operate and handled the 6,000-pound load extremely well."
"The demonstration of the V-22's ability to carry external loads at very high speeds is a significant accomplishment," said John Buyers, Bell-Boeing's V-22 program director at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. "This is the fastest airspeed any rotorcraft has carried an external load, no matter what the weight."
"What is significant about the V-22 external loads testing is not so much the weight ... [the tiltrotor] is carrying but the coupling of the weight and the speed," said Steve Grohsmeyer, Boeing's senior V-22 experimental test pilot. "Helicopters have lifted much heavier external loads but have not reached speeds of 220 knots while carrying these loads." The external load-carrying capability of the MV-22B is considered critical to the amphibious-lift requirements postulated by the Marine Corps for the 21st century.
In a later test flight, Osprey No. 8 carried a 6,500-pound HMMWV (high-mobility multiwheeled vehicle, or "Humvee") in an inverted V-sling at 120 knots and at a 60-degree engine nacelle angle. "The aircraft was very stable in the hover and forward flight," said Grohsmeyer, who flew the test mission with Maj. Bill Witzig. "It was well-damped following acroservoelastic and flying qualities excitations--both the aircraft and the load flew very well. We should feel very confident about taking this load faster if we want to."
"Like previous external load tests, this test went without a hitch and is a testament to the professionalism and efficiency of all those involved," said Phil Dunford, Bell-Boeing's director of flight test for the V-22 program.
Further tests will involve carrying--at 220 knots--15,000 pounds suspended from the forward and aft cargo hooks.
The first time a tiltrotor was used to carry external loads occurred earlier in the decade when an FSD (full-scale development) V-22A carried 4,000 pounds while reaching a speed of 174 knots.